Coward
by GiLaw
Summary: Nova's memories of her past with Mandarin come back to haunt her through terrifying nightmares. Will Nova be able to overcome her fear and stand up to Mandarin? And what does Sparx know about the mysterious figure that saved her that one night? You'll have to read MISSsweety63's "When Love and Fear Mix" to understand this!
1. Chapter 1

**HELLOOOOOOOOOO!**

**OMG, GUYS I HAVEN'T BEEN TO YOU IN SO LONG! CURSE THE WRITER'S BLOCK!**

**Also, SoLow hogged the computer. -_-**

**SoLow: FOR SCHOOL WORK!**

**Me: It's not back to school time until next week. God, you're nerdy!**

**SoLow: College is different from school!**

**Me: AS LONG AS THERE'S SPARKY EDUCATION INVOLVED, I DON'T SEE THE SPARKY DIFFERENCE!**

**KFee: And she's still swearing like that**

**Me: WHATEVER! Anyway, I just wanna make a few notes about this before we get started. You HAVE to read MISSsweety63's "When Love and Fear Mix" otherwise this won't make sense. So go on . . . DO IT!**

_**One Reading of "When Love and Fear Mix" Later (that is if you haven't read it already) . . .**_

**Me: YAY! NOW LET'S GET THIS SPARKY DONE!**

**Chapter 1**

**Nightmares, Nightmares, Nightmares**

_"NO!" Nova screamed._

_Frantically, she tried to climb to her feet. But they were too fragile to support her frail body which flopped the second she straightened her knees._

_Above her, an all-too strong Mandarin laughed his manacial monkey laugh. "Had enough?"_

_Physically drained, mentally tortured, Nova tried one last time to raise her fist. She might as well have offered Mandarin her arm which he grabbed and used to hurl her around and send her flying, crashing hard into the black concrete wall of the abandoned castle._

_She opened her mouth to beg for mercy but Mandarin grabbed her neck and whammed her against the wall again, squeezing the air out of her lungs like juice out of an orange. She gagged and spluttered for breath but he only shook her violently, yelling "Shut up!" before finally dropping her._

_As Nova collapsed to the ground, Mandarin chuckled at her misfortune, his grin growing wider every time she gasped for breath._

_"Enjoying your last breaths, are you dear Nova?"_

_"Mandarin, please . . ."_

_"Silence, weakling!" he snapped, stomping onto her now helpless figure. "You're a coward, you know that?"_

_Nova shook her head, desperate to soften him. "No . . . NOOOO!"_

_"A COWARD!" Mandarin spat. "Nothing more than a useless, helpless, cowardly little female . . ."_

_"MANDARIN!" Nova wailed, tears of hopelessness streaming down her face._

_But her despair only made Mandarin laugh more and step on her harder. "You even cry! So pathetic! How the others managed to put up with you, I will never know . . ."_

_She attempted to open her mouth again but one swipe of Mandarin's sword was enough to keep her silent. "Don't waste my time."_

_All she could do now was listen to his torturous insults as they both prepared themselves for the kill._

_Mandarin smile evilly and raised his sword. "I should have done this a long time ago. The Hyper Force doesn't deserve such a useless female like you . . ."_

_Nova scrunched up her eyes and inhaled her final breath._

_"So long . . . COWARD!"_

_Mandarin burst into another fit of hideous laughter as he aimed his sword towards her chest. Nova opened her mouth to scream but nothing but an almost silent gasp came out. She would be dead in a matter of moments . . ._

_The sword impaled her chest, Mandarin's laughter and the word "coward" ringing in her ears . . ._

The sword suddenly feld less sharp, more like a hand (two of them actually) and had stabbed- no, grabbed her shoulders. She could no longer hear Mandarin's laughter in her ears but Sparx's yells for her to wake up . . .

"Nova, come on! WAKE UP!"

Nova finally snapped out of it and jerked awake, taking a moment to remember where she was: the safety of her own bedroom. Yet she still couldn't understand what had just happened. Her body was covered in a cold sweat.

"Wha- I-" she stammed in confused fear. "Sparx, I-"

Sparx was already cradling her.

"I know," he whispered. "I know."

Nova blinked, more dumbstruck than ever. All she could remember was the word "coward". Shaken by the nightmare she just experienced, she threw her arms around Sparx and scrunched up every muscle her body could manage.

"Did she have another nightmare?" Gibson's voice was slightly more concerned than usual.

Sparx looked up, his black eyes grim. "Yeah."

Gibson frowned at this.

"What are we supposed to do, Gibson? This is the sixth night in a row now!" Sparx ranted. "The kid said that they should have just gone away by the second or third day and now it's day six! We're in the middle of a stinkin' war and Nova's been more traumatized than ever!"

"Sparx." The blue scientist was struggling to stay patient. "Calm down . . ."

"Is that all you've got?" Sparx snapped, squeezing Nova tighter with every word he spoke. "C'mon, Brainstrain! The one time when I ask ya to come up with somthing useful and you can't even understand what's going on!"

Before Gibson could protest, Sparx interrupted again. "Nova's scarred for a monkey's sake! She freaking TRAUMATIZED! By something I did to her!"

Nova looked up at him at this. "Sparx . . ."

"I know, I know," the red simian sighed. "I'm freaking the blazes out here."

"Sparx, don't start," Nova whimpered. "It's not your fault."

"How do I know you're not just saying that to comfort me, Nova?"

Nova gazed into his eyes. "Would I lie to you?"

That softened the red simian enough to calm down a little but not fully.

"Nova, why do you keep having these nightmares? Is it something to do with me? Because I wanna try and make it better. I need to know."

She cringed at the thought. "I . . . can't."

"Nova, please," begged Sparx.

The golden simian cringed again before tears began pouring out. "It's nothing to do with you, Sparx! But I can't tell! It's too scary to think about!"

Nova was really crying now, unable to stop the tears forming. Sparx embraced her but it had little to no affect on her. Desperate to find an answer, he looked up at Gibson, pleading him to do something.

Gibson knew when he was beaten. "Very well. I'll see what I can do."

**OH MY SPARKY GOD, I JUST NEEDED TO WRITE THAT!**

**NConn: And why's that?**

**Me: BECAUSE MY SUGAR RUSH WENT WRONG!**

**KFee: Is it because SoLow hogged the computer? Or because the dentist numbed you so bad you couldn't go on a sugar rush for the next 4 hours?**

**Me: NO! IT'S BECAUSE MOJOS ARE STUPID!**

**KFee: O.O**

**NConn: O.O**

**SoLow: *facepalm* We seriously need to lure GiLaw off of YouTube**

**Please Read and Review and check out my other stories and until next time- I NEED TO CRY LIKE A HIGH-PITCHED SIX YEAR OLD- MOM, I NEVER WANNA WATCH A TOP 10 AGAAAAAAAAAAIN! D'X**

**(Seriously though, Spova is that underrated -_-)**


	2. Chapter 2

**WAZUP MY FAVOURITE PEOPLE? HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN? HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY FOR SUPER ROBOT MONKEY TEAM HYPER FORCE GO!**

**SoLow: Can we go now?**

**Me: Shut up, SoLow! You ALWAYS have to ruin a sweet moment! ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS! *Pauses* Always . . . *mischievous chuckle***

**SoLow: Should I be worried?**

**Me: Nooo, not at all! *pulls out apple* Here! You look hungry, sis!**

**SoLow: No thanks! I never trust you! *grabs a different "apple"* ESPECIALLY when you're on a sugar rush and Spova shipping *takes a bite from "apple"***

**Me: Okay then! *mischievous chuckle* LET'S DO THIS SPARKY!**

**Chapter 2**

**Answers**

Gibson stood at his computer, typing away like mad. Behind him, Nova sat on the med table, fidgeting around with her fingers in a nervous manner. Noticing this, Sparx stepped up to her and placed a hand on her arm.

"You okay?"

Nova glanced at him and put on the bravest smile she could manage. "Yeah, I'm fine," she lied.

Sparx did not looked convinced. Nevertheless he jumped onto the med table beside her, just as Gibson turned around and picked up a pen and notepad.

"So Nova . . . I understand these nightmares have been happening for quite a while, right?"

Nova nodded quickly and rubbed her eyes, feeling tired already. She just wanted to get it over and done with and go back to bed.

Gibson however had other plans. He was writing some stuff into his notepad, looking very serious. "And what exactly happens in these nightmares?"

The yellow monkey had to muster up all her remaining courage to keep herself from shuddering. If either Sparx or Gibson learned that her dreams were about Mandarin abusing her and calling her a coward, it would surely ruin her tough-warrior appearance. "Gibson, I really don't wanna talk about it."

"I know, Nova," said Gibson. "But it's exteremly important. If you tell me, we might be able to solve the route of the problem."

But Nova simply would not confess. "I-it's nothing serious."

Sparx stared at her. "You call freaking out for six nights in a row nothing serious?"

"Well . . ." Nova thought for a moment. "I mean the nightmares are bad and all . . . but I'm sure they'll wear off, right?"

It was a pretty stupid answer. The three of them knew perfectly well that these nightmares probably wouldn't be going away any time soon.

"Nova, I insist you tell me what is happening in your nightmares." Gibson was trying not to lose his patience. "The sooner you tell me, the sooner I can come up with a conclucsion, or even a diagnosis."

"Um . . ." Nova hesitated, the word "coward" beginning to ring in her ears. "Iiiiit's just . . . fear of losing the war and all."

Sparx looked like he wanted to smash the nearest object to him. Gibson lowered his eyebrows but wrote down something in his notepad anyway. "Hmm . . ." He read over his notes for a moment before looking up. "And how has your fighting been lately?"

"Huh?"

"Has your fighting been affected by your nightmares?" asked Gibson.

Nova sighed and rubbed her eyes again. "I don't know . . ."

"May I see? In training?"

She groaned. "Can't we just give it a rest, Gibson? I wanna go back to sleep."

"I know," said Gibson a little sternly. "But this will only be a while. I need to see you in training and take some notes."

"Why can't we do it in the morning?" moaned Nova.

"Because I have to do it when we have the time. With arch-enemies out there, we never know when one will strike. I promise to make it easy," said Gibson.

Sparx put an arm around Nova's shoulder. "C'mon Nova. You have to."

Nova groaned again but jumped off the med table. "Fine. The sooner we do ths, the sooner we go back to sleep," she muttered, heading into the training room, closely followed by Sparx and Gibson.

_"You fool! You think you can impress me? You're useless, that's what you are!"_

Nova froze and shuddered, scrunching up her eyes and clutching her head.

"Whoa! You okay?" Sparx looked ready to catch her in case she fainted. He then turned to Gibson. "I don't know about this, Brainstrain, she looks real bad."

"I'm fine!" Nova interrupted quickly. "I just got a bit of a headache. Once I get in that training room, I'll be smashin' em all!" she added, smacking her fists in hope of looking intimidating.

Before Sparx and Gibson could respond, she raced inside the training hall. "Let's do this!" Already, she could feel the sweat running down her forehead.

Gibson didn't waste any time in setting the training level to level 4, causing many crazy weapons to appear from the walls surrounding Nova who quickly turned her shaky metal hands into powerful fighting fists and began to fight. She just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

As Nova effortlessly destroyed the obstacles, Gibson nodded and turned the training level up to level 6. More weapons appeared from the walls. A claw swiped out from behind Nova's back and swiped her down before she could turn around, knocking her to the ground.

"Gibson, please! I can't do this!" she cried.

"No, you're fine," said Gibson. "Keep going."

_"Stop with your pathetic cries and GET UP you useless female!"_

Next thing, the room went dark. Nova blinked in fright, trying to remember where she was: the training room.

"Gibson, c'mon! She's exhausted! Turn it down a little!" Sparx demanded.

"I can't, Sparx. It's the only way to get answers. I can't take any risks or take a safer option," the blue simian replied.

"Well think of one! I thought you were meant to be SMART!" Frustrated, Sparx slapped Gibson hard in the back. Gibson's body jerked forward and his hand which was holding the slot for the training level control slipped, bringing it to level 10.

Just as Nova was woozily climbing to her feet, she felt a sharp pain strike her back before an explosion sent her flying and crashing into a wall. Looking up, she realised that every singly crazy weapon was onto her, too much for her to handle- and that she was cornered.

"GIBSON!"

Sparx and Gibson glanced down, only to notice what had just happened.

"Oh drat!" Gibson excaimed, going to turn down the lable. But the slot was stuck.

"NOVA!" Sparx was about to run to her rescue but Gibson caught his arm and hauled him back.

"We can't afford to have the two of you injured! Stay here and try and help me fix this!" he ordered.

Sparx opened his mouth to protest but he had to admit that Gibson was right.

"HELP ME!" Nova screamed.

"Hang in thre, Nova! The slot's stuck!" Sparx yelled, grabbing the slot with Gibson and trying to lower it.

Nova curled up, trying to stay alive but the weapons were too much for her. She suddenly found herself hallucinating again and this time she couldn't help it . . .

_Mandarin laughed his manacial monkey laugh as another weapon struck her hard. Nova just let out a groan and scrunched herself, preparing for the final blow . . ._

_And Mandarin turned off the training weapons, making them disappear back into the walls before approaching her in a menacing manner. Nova cringed and cowered away from him but she was trapped between him and the wall. Even if she wasn't stuck, she still wouldn't be able to move._

_"Get up! NOW!" Mandarin demanded._

_Nova tried to climb to her feet but she just couldn't bring herself to do so. Whether it was because she was too sore, too weak or too scared, her feet would not support her._

_"Just as I thought," Mandarin, spat, unamused. "Well, we're going have to do something about this, aren't we?"_

_"Please, stop!" she wailed._

_Mandarin tutted. "There you go again! Always whining, and bgging and being a complete weakling! How you even made it on this team, I'll never know! What I do know is that we deserve better than a coward like YOU!"_

_"No . . . don't!" _

_Mandarin grabbed her by the shoulders, startling the yellow monkey enough to make her start thrashing ain his grip and scream for mercy._

_"NOOOO! STOP! STOOOOP!"_

_Mandarin just chuckled. "I have just a solution to this problem."_

_As if on queue, a Formless appeared out of nowhere, carrying a razor sharp sword in it's claws. Nova's eyes widened in horror as she realised what it was going to do._

_"NO! MANDARIN, PLEASE! DON'T DO IT! NOOOOO!"_

_"Useless beings like you don't deserve to live," Mandarin said in an evil tone. "They're just a waste of space and time. All they do is live in fear . . ."_

_Nova let out the biggest scream her lungs could manage, tears of desperation beginning to stream down her face, her body doing everything in it's remaining power to try and break free from his grip. But he was just way too strong . . ._

_The Formless raised it's sword . . ._

_Nova let out one last scream . . ._

_And she felt the sword stab her neck . . ._

_Nova let out a wail of pain before the wooziness began to kick in. Mandarin roared with laughter as her legs flopped and her body collapsed. Her eyes began to feel too heavy to stay open . . ._

_Mandarin grinned a victorious grin. "Nothing but a coward . . ." he smirked just as Nova closed her eyes and passed out . . ._

Sparx took a deep breath before putting Nova down, his face drenched with sweat. In front of him, Gibson sighed and lowered the tranquiliser.

"You did well Sparx," he murmured, putting a comforting arm on his brother's shoulder.

Sparx was in complete and utter shock. "I've never seen her go that . . . mental before."

"Me neither," said Gibson. "But least I have an answer to this."

"Huh?"

"She called you Mandarin while you were holding her in place," explained Gibson. "Therefore Mandarin must have something to do with these nightmares Nova's been having lately . . ."

**And I'm gonna leave it at that! Poor poor Nova :'(**

**SoLow: *Finishing "apple"* Why am I not surprised? You ALWAYS have to . . . *freezes***

**Me: Something, wrong Solow? *evil grin***

**SoLow: *clutches throat and coughs frantically***

**Me: HA! I OWN YOU, SOLOW! WHO KNEW THAT KEEPING MANCHINEEL FRUIT AROUND THE HOUSE COULD BE SO HANDY?**

**SoLow: *GAG!* *GAG!***

**Me: I could get used to this . . .**

**Please Read and Review and check out my other stories and until next time- I wonder if I could trick SoLow into eating something worse . . . Now that I think of it, she DOES look pretty lifeless *mischievous chuckle***


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